NEWS

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Board of Directors Meeting Summary (August 2025)

August 2025 Board Summary

Motions: 

The Board of Directors approved the following motions:

✅ Amendments to the bylaws so that Council Speaker will serve as the Chief Returning Officer in the event of a by-election for the Board of Directors

✅ Amendments to the Bylaws to ensure financial governance that aligns with ONCA and dissolution of the ONCA Financial Compliance Taskforce as they have completed their tasks of proposing these amendments.

✅ The requirement of an Annual General Meeting of the Society held no later than October 31st of each year.

No new business.

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Board of Directors Meeting Summary (June 2025)

Motions

The Board of Directors approved the following motions: 

  • ✅ Removal of the Deputy Chief Returning Officer’s honorarium as they ran in the election and hence were not involved in their role.
  • ✅ The establishment of a Personnel Policy Taskforce which will review and update the current Personnel Policy and return to the Board for approval. Upon completion of its mandate this taskforce will be dissolved.
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Board of Directors Summary (May 2025)

Motions

The Board of Directors approved the following motions: 

    • ✅ Appointment of the Legacy Director for the 2025-26 year
    • ✅  Running of a by-election to fill the two remaining Director positions
    • ✅  Addition of student leader compensation to the SOGS Unified Documents in accordance with the requirement laid out by the Ontario Not-for-Profit Corporations Act, 2010 (ONCA)
    • ✅  Assignment of additional responsibilities to the Speaker and Deputy Speaker role and a corresponding increase of hours in order to dissolve the Governance and Policy Manager role. Additional duties were also added to the Vice-Board Chair and Vice-President Finance roles to fulfill all aspects of the Governance and Policy Manager role. These additional responsibilities will be incorporated to the next version of the SOGS Unified documents
    • ✅  Establishment of an ONCA Compliance Taskforce which will be led by the Vice-President Finance and include several members of the Board of Directors and two Councillors

New Business: 

  • Modification of the Board land acknowledgement
  • Placement of a microphone in Board meetings to improve online accessibility in the SOGS boardroom
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Board of Directors Meeting Summary (November & December 2024)

Orders of the Day – November 2024
  • The Board approved the Society & Grad Club Audit (November 2024)
  • The Board referred the Society’s Personnel Policy to a newly created Ad Hoc Review Group (November 2024)
  • The Board approved the creation of an ad hoc CRO Hiring Committee 
     

Orders of the Day – December 2024

  • The Board approved the extension of the Ad Hoc Review Group (overseeing the Personnel Policy)’s mandate
  • The Board approved a motion in support the Executive Committee’s pursuit to decertify from the Canadian Federation of Students 
New Business – December 2024
  • Discussion on dedicated meditation space in Middlesex College 
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2025 Ontario Election Candidates Debate

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Graduate Students at Western University to Host 2025 Ontario Election Candidates Debate

London, ON – The Society of Graduate Students (SOGS) Sustainability Committee at Western University is proud to host a 2025 Ontario provincial election candidates debate for the London North Centre riding. This important discussion will take place on Thursday, February 20th, from 3:00 PM to 4:30 PM in Middlesex College, Room 105B at Western University.

As the Ontario provincial election approaches on February 27, this debate will provide students and community members an opportunity to hear directly from candidates about their policies and plans for addressing key student concerns, including the cost of living and environmental sustainability.

Confirmed participants include:

  • Carol Dyck (Green Party)
  • Terence Kernaghan (New Democratic Party)
  • Tariq Khan (Liberal Party)

The Conservative Party candidate, Jerry Pribil, declined the invitation to participate.

This debate is organized entirely by graduate students at Western University, who are also preparing the questions for discussion. The session will be moderated by SOGS President Cherin Chung and is open to the public. Attendees will have the opportunity to engage with candidates and gain insights into their platforms ahead of election day.

For media inquiries, please contact Ehsan at  mrahm326@uwo.ca

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Board Of Directors Meeting Summary (October 2024)

For the full October Board package, with appendices, see here.
 
Announcements
The next Board Meeting will take place November 13th at 2:00pm in the Grad Club Boardroom and through ZOOM.
 
Orders of the Day: 
    • The Board approved the continuation of the Board Chair’s term following the completion of the Chair’s graduate studies. 
    • The Board approved the rescheduling of the November Board meeting to Wednesday, November 13th at 2:00pm. 
New Business: 
No new business.
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SOGS Stands in Solidarity with CUPE 2361

✊ On Saturday, July 17th, our President, Cherin Chung, and our Membership Services Manager, Jessica Reilly, braved the rainstorm and showed our support for CUPE 2361 members – caretaking, landscape services and trades workers at Western University! Cherin delivered a short speech of solidarity at the rally and community lunch.

                    

🤔 Why care about a possible CUPE 2361 strike?

Firstly, without these incredible folks, #WesternU campus would not be clean or safe. Secondly, one of the complaints CUPE 2361 has with the employer is chronic understaffing, high workloads, and low wages. The problem: There are not enough support staff to provide high-quality services in residences, classrooms, offices, labs and washrooms. SOGS expects fair wages and safe working conditions for our community friends and sister unions.

To best support CUPE 2361, consider sending a message to Western’s administration in support of the workers who keep the campus running. Tell them to negotiate a fair deal that reflects the rising cost of living and substantial gap in wages. ✊🏾📢

In response, the SOGS Executive Committee sent a letter of solidarity to key WesternU admin, including President Allan Shepard. Read the letter.

 

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